Yemen IDs bombers as Afghan war vets

The Washington Post

Published Friday, November 17, 2000

ADEN, Yemen -- The two men who steered a small boat laden with plastic explosives into the USS Cole on Oct. 12 have been identified as veterans of the U.S.-backed guerrilla war to drive Soviet forces from Afghanistan, according to Prime Minister Abdel-Karim Ali Iryani.

One of the two who carried out the attack, which killed 17 U.S. sailors as the Cole refueled in this port, has been identified as a Yemeni born in the eastern province of Hadramaut, Iryani said. He declined to provide further details. But in an interview Wednesday in Sanaa, Yemen's capital, he revealed that authorities have solid leads to the identity of the second bomber, who is also believed to be a native of Yemen.

Iryani said the identity of the first bomber was established by false identification discovered in one of the rented houses around Aden from which the plotters prepared the attack. The name on the ID forms, which included a boating license, was false, but the photo was genuine. And as investigators worked the document trail, which included phone records from the safe houses, the photo was recognized, he said.

The prime minister said he could not elaborate, but noted that Yemeni investigators, who still have dozens of people in custody for questioning, have learned a great deal from relatives of the identified bomber, who lived in the Aden area, as well as from a person ''who I think was involved,'' Iryani said.